Beauty and the Beast @ Proctors, 5/15/12

by Michael Eck
SCHENECTADY – Lavish isn’t even the word for “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.”
The big, bright musical is at Proctors through Sunday and it’s magnificent family entertainment.
You know the story already, and all of the classic elements are here, but the telling makes it fresh, even for adults.
Disney has always been about spectacle and you get plenty of that here, from the ridiculously lush set design (by Stanley A. Meyer) to the inventive costumes (by Ann Hould-Ward). Basil Twist’s puppets are as entertaining as ever, and they contribute to the dreamlike quality of the entire piece.
Director Rob Roth smartly hewed to the idea of animation in this production. Scrim paintings, drops and moving set pieces all border on the cartoonish. Some scenes literally explode with color.
And the dazzling “Be Our Guest” is the showstopper one would expect.
There are no stars in the cast, because the show itself is the star, but the touring company does do excellent work, both with the acting and Alan Mencken’s score. And the entire ensemble works magic with Matt West’s wonderful old-school choreography.
The aforementioned “Be Our Guest” is a stage-filling extravaganza with lots of leg, lots of laugh and lots of streamer cannons.
It’s led off by Michael Haller, as Lumiere. He captures the comedy of the character throughout the show, just as Julia Louise Hosack, as Mrs. Potts, gets the humanity of hers.
Emily Behny’s Belle is sweet and philosophical. She sings her numbers with an earnestness straight out of the classic Disney canon.
“Home,” for example, aches in its early rendition and swoons in its reprise. And she won huge applause at Tuesday’s opening with the soaring “A Change in Me.”
Dane Agostinis is her nemesis and — of course — her love interest as the Beast. He is lighter and funnier than his filmic counterpart, but no less effective for it.
He sings his brief songs like a tortured soul.
At the other end, Matt Farcher’s Gaston is just as big and buffoonish as he should be. He rocks the role like Elvis and sings it like Robert Goulet, especially on “The Mob Song.”
His anthem, “Gaston,” gives the clownish Jimmy Larkin’s Lefou a moment in the spotlight and it also gives the ensemble another chance to spin and strut.
The orchestra — under Associate Conductor Alan Plado’s baton on Tuesday — was at the same level as everything else in the production, with a supple, cinematic majesty.
Critics especially like to bemoan what’s popular as tripe, but this “Beast” is just too much fun to call it anything but wonderful.

One Response

I honestly could not believe you used a whole page in Thursdays preview section to review a show (Beauty and the Beast) that most people had bought tickets for weeks in advance. Do you think that any review determined if anyone went to this performance? Did they need the advertising? Proctors does great marketing. Just down the road was a beautiful production of The Children’s Hour given to us by Our Own Productions at Emmanuel Friedens Church. Yes i get you can’t get to everything but really ….BE MY GUEST.